Friday, April 24, 2009

Almond and Pine Nut Tart

Since giving Oliver Nick Malgieri's book for Christmas, he had been eying this Almond and Pine Tart over and over again. I could see him flip back to the page every time he browsed through the book. A couple days ago, we got our baking gear together.. and here it is! We have somewhat of a love affair with pine nuts in this household so he knew this would quickly become a favorite.We had a tiny bit of mishap with the recipe though. It calls for 'almond paste' - but we got marzipan instead. Marzipan is basically almond paste with added sugar, so we used the marzipan and omitted the call for sugar in the recipe. I was suggest getting canned almond paste if you can though because I think it would make the consistency of the filling slightly more airy. I also think I will add a handful of crushed pine nuts to the batter next time, with a couple tablespoons of orange juice. The tart was delicious nonetheless - and a nice change from the classic desserts we are used to seeing in pastry shops!Almond and Pine Nut TartRecipe (for 6)Dough (see here for my basic tart dough recipe)Filling:8 ounces of canned almond paste cut into bite size cubes1/3 cup of granulated sugar2 large eggs2 large egg yolks8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened2 teaspoons of vanilla extract2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest1/3 cup of all purpose flour1/2 cup of pine nuts

Set a rack to the lowest level of your oven and preheat to 350 F. Combine the almond paste and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is reduced to fine crumbs, about 2 minutes. Add one of the eggs and continue beating until the mixture turns into a heavy paste.

Beat in the butter until it is completely incorporated. Beat in the second egg, then the egg yolks until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest, followed by the flour until fully incorporated.

Use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the filling and scrape it into the prepared pastry crust. Scatter the pine nuts all over the almond filling, gently pressing them with the palm of your hand to make them adhere.

Bake the tart until the crust is baked through and the filling is set and well colored, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the tart on a rack.